


Georgia On My Mind

by theslashbunny (theplotbunny)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Jim participates in the form of a message, M/M, Schmoop, cuddles are the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 23:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10581666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theplotbunny/pseuds/theslashbunny
Summary: On the Enterprise, during a crisis in which he hasn’t been able to return to his room in two weeks, and hasn’t seen Pavel in even longer, Leonard thinks back to their last leave on Earth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to LJ on 17 July 2011

It had started with a medical crisis on one of the Federation’s more distant colonies. For fifteen standard Earth days, McCoy had been up to his elbows in the sick and dying, desperately working with the rest of the medical and science departments to find a way to keep a flesh-eating virus from killing off the planet’s population, having started with its children. Stuck in the quarantined main Sickbay, he’d gone days without rest, watching children suffer and die, only sleeping when he collapsed and woke up to find himself on one of the cots reserved for the medical personnel.

On day thirteen, they started testing a vaccine. On day fourteen, desperate to stop the infection, they’d started administering it to those most at risk. On day sixteen, they’d finally found a treatment that halted the progression of the disease, but on day seventeen Leonard had been forced to inform the waiting, tired and distraught patients and families that they’d have to wait until the _USS Schweitzer_ arrived to establish more permanent medical facilities on the planet itself – _Enterprise_ simply wasn’t equipped to handle the level of care required for some of the children to recover enough to function beyond the basics – if they would recover at all.

It wasn’t news that he’d ever wanted to give. But modern medicine could only go so far and already the medical staff of the ship had performed what amounted to a miracle.

Barely an hour into day eighteen, three unidentified ships of unknown origin dropped out of warp and opened fire. Leonard had turned from his slow, trudging walk towards his quarters and sprinted back to Sickbay to tend to casualties.

On day twenty, they’d fought off the enemy ships, the _Schweitzer_ had arrived, and _Enterprise_ started to slowly work its warp-less way to the nearest space station for massive repairs. After having gotten so well-acquainted with the cot in his office that he wanted nothing more than to set it on fire, Leonard finally made his slow, sore way to his quarters, leaving those still healing in the capable (and significantly more well-rested) hands of Geoff and Christine.

He hadn’t spent so much consecutive time in Sickbay since the Narada Incident and its subsequent limp back to Earth – and that was a time that he’d sooner forget, just another entry in the list of things he wished he’d never experienced. It was a list that this near-month of hell would soon be relegated to, after filling out all of the necessary paperwork that was sure to take him _another_ week.

Walking through his door, the lights were on ten percent and Len kicked off his shoes and left a trail of clothing from the doorway, past the divider, leading to his bed. In the dim light, sitting down on the edge of the bed, he looked down at the sleeping figure already beneath its sheets.

For his size, Pavel sure as hell could take up space. For all that he was half a foot shorter than Len, he could sprawl more effectively than Leonard had ever managed. He did it when he was awake, too, taking up an entire couch with his lithe form, seeming to spill out of a chair that would hold a man three times his size. At that moment, he was using far more than his half of the bed. On his back, arms and limbs splayed across the mattress, mouth slack in slumber, he’d look like an overgrown child were it not for the stubble on his cheeks and chin – and the dark smudges under his eyes.

While Leonard had been bogged down with the injured in Sickbay, Pavel had been on the Bridge throughout the battles with the still-unidentified vessels and had since been pulling double shifts to cover for Lieutenant Massey and spending his “free time” helping Engineering keep the ship in one piece. He was every bit as stressed and exhausted as Leonard was and it showed. Instead of the crisp lines he presented to the world, Pavel was now the picture of a rumpled young man who was given far more responsibility than someone twice his age could normally handle. And all Leonard wanted to do was gather him up in his arms, smooth away the harsh creases forming on his brow, run his fingers through those tangled curls and sleep for two days – longer if fate and Jim let them.

But he knew he’d be lucky to get a few hours and so he wasted no more time in crawling into bed between the sheets and into a familiar embrace. Strong, pale limbs immediately wrapped around him and a lean muscled torso pressed against his side. A leg stretched over his and its thigh wormed its way between his own. A nose that was somehow always cold nuzzled into his neck and a soft “Лёня” breathed across his throat.

No matter how much space Pavel could take up on his own, when they were together it was like any space was too much for the Russian. Leonard would have to move Pavel’s feet on the couch to sit down, but once he was seated, he’d have lapful of Chekov. And when the younger man couldn’t be plastered to his side for whatever reason, he’d still find a way to touch; a toe poking him in the thigh, a leg pressed against another beneath a table, a brain-heavy head resting on his shoulder. And Leonard loved it. He and Jocelyn had never been very touchy or big on public displays of affection, but now… Well, he’d never thought he’d miss what would with anyone else be an invasion of personal space as much as he had missed Pavel’s regular touch. Twenty days had been too damn long and Len was thrilled that, instead of having to fit in the ten percent of space that Pavel had left for him, they were now using less than half of the mattress.

It made him think back to the last leave they’d had on Earth. They’d had a whole month for something official that Jim and Spock had to attend, and Len and Pavel had spent two glorious weeks at the McCoy family home in Georgia all by themselves. After visiting families, after Jo had to return to her mother, they’d had nothing but each other for fourteen fantastic days. Riding horses, picnics under the willow in the back lawn, swimming in the (questionably sanitary) pond farther out on the family property, they’d done it all. And they’d done nothing too. They’d lazed about the house when the heat became unbearable for the cold-loving Russian, they’d sat and enjoyed fine Southern bourbon and each other’s company on the porch. They’d spent an entire day in bed, doing more than just nothing. There’d been one rather memorable rainy evening on the chaise lounge on the front porch that made Leonard glad the closest neighbor was over a mile away. And one entire morning they’d done nothing but lay in bed, touching and kissing and whispering and laughing, but nothing more – merely basking in each other’s presence.

Leonard could do with another two weeks like that about now. Hell, he wanted a whole year full of weeks like that – but he’d settle for just a day at this point. For a moment, he let himself ponder the ethics of giving himself and Pavel both a medically advised leave – for the sake of their mental health, of course – before giving it up to the reality of the work left to be done. He’d get his few hours of sleep and his few hours with his love and then it’d be back to responsibility.

He allowed his hand one more pass over the surprisingly broad back of his partner before resting his palm on the lumbar curve, running his fingers through tangled curls one last time before wrapping his arm securely around deceptively strong shoulders, and pressed a kiss to his lover’s forehead before slipping into a deep sleep.

///\\\\\

As repairs were made, Leonard and Pavel didn’t see each other for another week after that night. Leonard would come home after a shift and little things would have changed, like a pile of PADDs had been moved or an empty glass would be left on the desk, things that let him know that Pavel had at some point made it back to the rooms. Len hoped that Pavel was getting more sleep than the rumpled, cool to the touch sheets that the young man left behind implied, but knowing the genius better than most, he knew it was wishful thinking. He was probably working on repairing different systems until Scotty thought his fatigue would make him hurt Scotty’s precious lady and then sending him off for just enough sleep that Pavel would then argue was “enough.”

Leonard knew that everyone was working overtime as they limped to a station that could actually handle the repairs that the crew couldn’t do themselves, but he had a feeling that the lieutenant was probably working (and being worked) harder than was actually necessary. The younger man was just too damn useful and brilliant at _everything_ and could fix the delicate electronics just as capably as Jim or Spock, and Scotty only trusted those three, himself or Keenser to supervise.

So he knew it had to be pretty bad when he got a comm from Jim one evening while he was finishing up some discharge orders in his office.

_Bones,  
I ordered Scotty to release your boytoy from his servitude and I sent him to your quarters. I don’t care how you do it, but make sure he gets some sleep. I don’t want to see him back on duty for at least 24 hours. I know he’s like the Energizer bunny, but even Spock has to sleep at some point and Chekov doesn’t have the benefit of Vulcan genes._

_-Jim_

_PS Apparently, you need to put Spock on Medical Leave to get him to leave his fucking post and get some damn sleep already, so do that first._

_PPS Before you start bitching about me needing sleep too, I slept yesterday; Spock didn’t. I’ll sleep after he has. Don’t make me quote ship regs to you; I really don’t need both my XO and my CMO arguing with me today._

By the time he’d sent back a surprisingly civil reply which even refrained from a lecture on the use of “boytoy”, placed the First Officer on Medical Leave for 24 hours, and returned to his rooms, a recently showered Lt. Chekov was already curled up under the covers of their bed. Within seconds of Len joining him in bed, Pavel rolled over and attached himself to Len’s side like a limpet, head pillowed on a pectoral and damp curls brushing the underside of Len’s chin.

“I missed this,” he sighed into the dark, breath raising goosebumps on the skin of the older man’s chest. “I don’t sleep as well without you here.”

Leonard snorted. “Hear Jim tell it, you don’t sleep at all.” Pavel huffed with a level of indignation that only someone really drunk, really exhausted, or thirteen years old can manage.

“He is a hypocrite. And he exaggerates.” God, it felt good to hear that voice. Len only hummed in response as he let himself relax and let his eyes fall closed. “I am fine.” Sure. Pavel’s definition of “fine” was frighteningly similar to Jim’s – extremely broad and mildly disturbing.

“Well, that hypocrite is also the captain and that means you get twenty-four hours off-duty to get some shut-eye,” he murmured, starting to run his hand slowly up and down the bare skin of Pavel’s back, soothing the annoyed reply that was sure to come. For being so cheerful, the young Russian had a surprisingly sharp temper, showing itself primarily when he was tired. Like now.

But the calming movement was enough to smooth the rough edges and Pavel let out a noise that he’d swear up and down wasn’t actually a _purr_ (but which totally was) and attempted to burrow further into Len’s side.

For a while, it was nothing but silence, darkness, soft sheets, and warm skin, the combination slowly lulling Leonard to sleep. He’d almost slipped away when an accented whisper brought him back.

“I’ve been thinking,” Pavel muttered, giving his lover’s side a soft pinch to stop the habitual _Of course you have_ before it was even spoken, “all week … about Georgia.”

Fingers started to sleepily draw nonsense (or maybe, with Pavel, just something Leonard couldn’t decipher) on the skin of his chest as the sleep-slurred voice continued, “Sitting on the porch with you in the evenings, drinking and listening to music or maybe just the crickets. Staying in bed all morning with nothing to do and nowhere to be; not even doing anything, just you and me, lying there together.”

Leonard felt a sleepy smile stretch across his face. Either they really were soulmates like Jo had once wistfully insisted, or Pavel was just a psychic.

“We won’t be gettin’ another leave like that for a while, will we?” he whispered, sleep making his drawl more pronounced.

“Hmm...” Pavel stretched up, back arching like a cat, to press a soft kiss to the side of the Georgian’s neck. “We’ll get a few days at least to ourselves while the repairs are being made.” He settled back down, pressing his ear flat over Leonard’s heart. “But a space station cannot compete with your home.”

“Which in turn can’t compete with dear old Russia, right?” he chuckled out. But instead of the expected affirmative, he felt the shoulders under his arm shrug sleepily as Pavel started to drift off.

“Being there makes you happy,” he slurred, his own accent stronger in exhaustion as well, “so I’d rather be there than anywhere else. Even Russia.”

Len tightened his grasp on his drowsing lover, throat tightening in turn at Pavel’s touching words.

“Anywhere you are makes me happy,” he choked out. He felt the answering smile against his skin rather than saw it, and felt the kiss to his chest that accompanied the happy hum that slipped out of the younger man before he finally slipped into slumber. “I love you, too, Pasha.”

**Author's Note:**

> To anyone who is also reading HIAM, I promise I am working on it. I'm just moving these over to AO3 now because of the new T&C on Livejournal and I don't want to lose them.


End file.
